WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:04.001 --> 00:00:10.000 You can roughly locate any community in the world somewhere along a scale running 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.000 all the way from democracy to despotism. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:19.001 One to the democracy end, another somewhere in the middle, and a 00:00:19.001 --> 00:00:22.000 third... 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:27.001 Let's find out about despotism. This man makes it his job to study these things. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Well, for one thing, avoid the comfortable idea that the mere form of government 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.000 can of itself safeguard a nation against despotism. 00:00:39.001 --> 00:00:46.001 Germany, under President Hindenburg, was a republic. And yet in this republic, an 00:00:46.001 --> 00:00:51.001 aggressive despotism took root and flourished under Adolf Hitler. 00:00:52.001 --> 00:00:58.000 When a competent observer looks for signs of despotism in a community, he looks 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:04.001 beyond fine words and noble phrases. ... which it stands, one nation, indivisible, 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:08.000 with liberty and justice for all. 00:01:10.001 --> 00:01:17.000 Many observers have found that two workable yardsticks help in discovering how 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:24.000 near a community is to despotism, the respect scale and the power scale. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:30.001 A careful observer can use a respect scale to find how many 00:01:30.001 --> 00:01:32.000 citizens get an even break. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:38.001 As a community moves towards despotism, respect is restricted to fewer people. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:48.000 A community is low on a respect scale if common courtesy is withheld from large 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.000 groups of people on account of their political attitudes. 00:01:53.001 --> 00:01:58.000 If people are rude to others because they think their wealth and position gives 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.001 them that right, or because they don't like a man's race or his religion, 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.000 equal opportunity for all citizens to develop useful skills is one basis for 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.001 rating a community on a respect scale. 00:02:18.001 --> 00:02:23.000 The opportunity to develop useful skills is important, but not enough. 00:02:24.001 --> 00:02:29.000 The equally important opportunity to put skills to use is a further 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:30.001 test on a respect scale. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:42.000 A power scale is another important yardstick of despotism. It 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.000 gauges the citizens' share in making the community's decisions. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.001 Communities which concentrate decision-making in a few hands rate low on a power 00:02:51.001 --> 00:02:54.000 scale and are moving towards despotism. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:01.001 Like France under the Bourbon Kings, one of whom said, the state, I am the state. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:08.001 Today democracy can ebb away in communities whose citizens allow power to become 00:03:08.001 --> 00:03:10.001 concentrated in the hands of bosses. 00:03:12.001 --> 00:03:17.001 What I say, go. See? I'm the law around here. 00:03:21.001 --> 00:03:28.000 The test of despotic power is that it can disregard the will of the people. It 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.000 rules without the consent of the governed. 00:03:34.001 --> 00:03:39.001 Look beyond the legal formalities of an election in measuring a community on the 00:03:39.001 --> 00:03:43.000 power scale to see if the ballot is really free. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:51.000 If the citizens can vote only the way they're told, a 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.000 community approaches despotism. 00:03:56.001 --> 00:04:02.001 When legislatures become ceremonial assemblies only and have no real control over 00:04:02.001 --> 00:04:07.000 lawmaking, their community rates low on a power scale. 00:04:11.001 --> 00:04:17.000 In a downright despotism, opposition is dangerous whether the despotism is 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.001 official or whether it is unofficial. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:30.001 The spread of respect and power in a community is influenced by certain 00:04:30.001 --> 00:04:36.000 conditions, which many observers measure by means of the economic distribution 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.001 and information scales. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:45.000 If a community's economic distribution becomes slanted, its middle-income groups 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 grow smaller and despotism stands a better chance to gain a foothold. 00:04:53.001 --> 00:04:59.001 Where land is privately owned, one sign of a poorly balanced economy is the 00:04:59.001 --> 00:05:04.000 concentration of land ownership in the hands of a very small number of people. 00:05:06.001 --> 00:05:13.000 When farmers lose their farms, they lose their independence. This one can stay 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.000 on, but not as his own boss anymore. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:22.001 To the extent that this condition exists throughout a nation, the likelihood 00:05:22.001 --> 00:05:24.000 of despotism is increased. 00:05:26.001 --> 00:05:30.001 In communities which depend almost entirely on a single industry, such as a 00:05:30.001 --> 00:05:35.001 factory or mine, maintaining economic balance is a challenging problem. 00:05:40.001 --> 00:05:46.001 If this condition exists over the nation as a whole, so that the control of jobs 00:05:46.001 --> 00:05:52.000 and business opportunities is in a few hands, despotism stands a good chance. 00:05:56.001 --> 00:06:02.000 Another sign of a poorly balanced economy is a taxation system that presses 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:04.001 heaviest on those least able to pay. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:12.000 A larger part of a small income is spent on necessities such as food. Sales taxes 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:15.000 on such necessities hit the small income harder. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:24.000 In the days of the salt tax, feudal despotisms were partly sustained 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.000 by this and other facts. 00:06:31.001 --> 00:06:38.000 A community rates low on an information scale when the press, radio, and other 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:44.000 channels of communication are controlled by only a few people, and when citizens 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.000 have to accept what they're told. 00:06:47.001 --> 00:06:51.000 In communities of this kind, despotism stands a good chance. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.000 See how community trains its teachers. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:05.000 Bear this in mind. Young people cannot be trusted to form their own opinions. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:12.000 This business about open-mindedness is nonsense. It's a waste of time trying to 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.001 teach students who think for themselves. It's our job to tell them. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:25.000 And when teachers put such training into practice, despotism stands a good 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:30.000 chance. These children are being taught to accept uncritically whatever they're 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.001 told. Questions are not encouraged. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.000 How can you ask such a question? Have you got a textbook? 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.000 Yes, ma'am. 00:07:41.001 --> 00:07:44.001 Does it say here that our law courts are always just? 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.000 Yes, ma'am. 00:07:46.001 --> 00:07:50.000 Then how dare you question the fact? Sit down. 00:07:51.001 --> 00:07:54.001 And so we aren't surprised when... 00:07:54.001 --> 00:07:57.001 But it must be true. I saw it in this book right here. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:05.001 And if books and newspapers and the radio are efficiently controlled, the people 00:08:05.001 --> 00:08:10.000 will read and accept exactly what the few in control want them to. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Government censorship is one form of control. A newspaper which breaks a 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:19.000 government censorship rule can be suspended. 00:08:21.001 --> 00:08:26.001 It is also possible for newspapers and other forms of communication to be 00:08:26.001 --> 00:08:28.001 controlled by private interests. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.001 I thought I told you to kill that story. It'll cost us a lot of advertising. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.000 If that story goes out, I quit. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:37.001 All right. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:47.000 What sort of community do you live in? Where would you place it on 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 a democracy, despotism scale? 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.000 To find out, you can rate it on a respect scale and a power scale. 00:08:56.001 --> 00:09:02.000 And to find out what way it is likely to go in the future, you can rate it on 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.000 economic distribution and information scales. 00:09:06.001 --> 00:09:12.000 The lower your community rates on economic distribution and information scales, 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:17.000 the lower it is likely to rate on respect and power scales. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:20.001 And thus, to approach despotism. 00:09:24.001 --> 00:09:31.000 What happens in a single community is the problem of its own citizens. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:39.000 But it is also the problem of us all. Because as communities go, 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.001 so goes the nation. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:56.000 Thank you.